Questions/Answers

The word “Dabokdong” was coined by the city government of Busan, demonstrating its unwavering commitment to delivering comprehensive social welfare services. ‘Da’ means everyone. ‘Bok’ represents welfare or happiness. And lastly, ‘Dong’ is an administrative unit, lowest in the hierarchy of the local government system in South Korea. Thus, Dabokdong means community-based care, provided by a Dong office, a front-line administrative agency that reaches out to all of its residents. With the implementation of Dabokdong, Busan strives to obtain sustainable development by seeking to create an innovative new example for public services that not only provides financial support but also restores a strong sense of community. Previous social welfare services focused on people living in absolute poverty whereas Dabokdong is provided for not only people living below the poverty line but also the vulnerable previously excluded from the benefits of social welfare because they are ineligible to receive social benefits. The newly located beneficiaries under Dabokdong include people with disabilities, the elderly and one-person households. Moreover, in contrast to the previous social services offered primarily by government, Dabokdong employs a bottom-up decision-making process in cooperation with community-based grassroots organizations to encourage citizens’ participation in the initiative, resulting in the strengthening of a social safety net to identify and assist the vulnerable exposed to social risks. Additionally, the city government combined the existing social services into a single more effective Dabokdong brand to optimize the chances of efficient delivery of public services. The consolidation of previous services allowed the government to deliver comprehensive community-based care tailored to individual recipients’ needs and to set up a cooperation network of private service providers, led by Dong offices, replacing an old welfare service system where service providers independently operated, all of which greatly contributed to the increase of social capital in Busan.

1. Establishing a community-based social service system a. Busan established a cooperative public service network among the three stakeholders: Dong offices; Community Council on Social Security (CCSS) consisting entirely of citizens; and private social welfare centers. b. Busan optimized the public and private resources for welfare services by establishing a comprehensive community-based care system participated and supported by stakeholders. For example, the city cooperates with Busan Community Chest (BCC) and Busan Association of Social Welfare Centers (BASWC). BCC financed USD 292,000 for Dabokdong and BASWC established a support team for CCSS. 2. Building a brand of public services a. Various social service projects pursued by private and public organizations were integrated into a more coherent Dabokdong brand to optimize financial and human resources, maximizing the potential of each project. The consolidation enabled the city to provide public services for the vulnerable previously disqualified for social services with the help from private companies involved with social responsibility. b. Busan solicited ideas from citizens for specific action plans of Dabokdong, empowering citizens to deal with the social issues. Accepting numerous applications filed by residents, the government selected 120 projects from 54 Dongs, and secured and executed the budget of USD 4.06 million.

Despite the fact that the government had provided various welfare programs with increased funding, neither citizens’ satisfaction improved drastically nor the number of the vulnerable neglected in the existing social services system were reduced. The city launched Dabokdong after it recognized the bureaucratic inefficiency of the existing welfare programs that failed to meet the complicated needs of individual residents and to identify the disadvantaged excluded from the social benefits. To enhance residents’ satisfaction and reduce the number of the vulnerable neglected in the existing social services system, the city government broke free from the past top-down decision making process and established an intricate cooperation system where citizens, the academia, social welfare centers, and the government were organically connected with one another.

1. Goal 3 – Good health and well-Being for people The initiative provides comprehensive and tailored social services that accommodate the series of changes in the life of a citizen. For instance, Busan tackles a lonely death crisis by implementing Dabokdong. As South Korea has become an aged society and the traditional family network erodes, it began to experience a rise in lonely deaths, or people lie dead at home for long periods before being discovered. Busan established an administrative team to prevent lonely deaths before any local government did so. Busan first identified high-risk age groups by studying a national census and established a social welfare system tailored to the specific needs of a respective age group. 2. Goal 5 – Gender equality The initiative provides comprehensive and tailored social services that mitigate socio-economical risks women are facing to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. For example, women must go apply for social services at their respective Dong offices. After the implementation of Dabokdong, however, social workers reach out to the vulnerable including women and children who suffer from domestic violence and have multicultural family. The recipients are provided with health care services, training opportunities, and employment information.

Many people were not protected by or eligible for previous social security schemes, and were left off without any welfare benefits. To redress the inadequacy of the earlier social service system, the city government mobilizes material and human resources in cooperation with community-based grassroots organizations and community leaders. In this regard, the government fosters close public-private cooperation, which allows a Dong office acts as a hub that coordinates and consolidates social welfare services provided by both the public and private sectors. As a result, Dong offices are able to offer residents the convenience of having multiple needs met in one location. Moreover, an intricate cooperation system between the private and public sectors greatly contributed to the successful strengthening of a social safety net to identify and assist the disadvantaged previously excluded from the benefits of social welfare. Social workers gather information of the vulnerable by developing a safety net with the help of citizens in frequent contact with the disadvantaged, i.e. postal carriers, meter readers, landlords, real estate agents, and owners of small village shops. Consequently, previously neglected disadvantaged persons were located and placed in appropriate care so no one would be excluded from the benefits of social welfare system.

Despite an increase in the number of social service programs, people were still dissatisfied with the delivery of public services regarding social welfare because social services had been previously offered mainly by the central and local governments, whose public services were provided independently of each other. Therefore, privately-operated social welfare centers had no choice but following the separate instructions from the two governments and providing citizens with inefficient and limited services. In order to improve the quality of life of residents and enhance their satisfaction, the city government recognized the necessity of a new, innovative public service delivery system where different services would be consolidated in such areas as health, employment, education, housing, and culture. In accordance with the new system, a Dong office would act as an effective center that coordinates comprehensive, community-based social welfare services provided and participated by both the public and private sectors, including local residents. Eventually, some of the existing social services programs came under the umbrella of the Dabokdong Initiative to produce a synergistic result. For example, an urban renewal program and a public health promotion program were combined with Dabokdong to offer comprehensive care services tailored to the specific needs of residents.

The city government launched the trial run of the Dabokdong Initiative in four Dongs. The initiative, however, was transferred to 52 Dongs in the first year of implementation, and spread to 192 Dongs in the second year. Many neighborhoods in Busan did not miss the remarkable accomplishments of Dabokdong, and thus, all Dongs in Busan signed up for the initiative in the third year. Each Dong developed a program uniquely suitable for its own needs according to Dabokdong, which naturally enhanced residents’ satisfaction. This is a stark contrast to previous South Korean social service projects based on top-down decision-making process where central government issues guidance and order for lower administrative units to follow. In this regard, Dabokdong is a distinctively new policy to deliver public service in terms of its two-way, bottom-up approach. For example, for the first time in the nation, the city government pursued a public service scheme in cooperation with organizations from the private sector, including the Busan Community Chest, to fund Dabokdong. The city’s endeavor to foster close public-private cooperation and promote broad participation of citizens in providing community-based care resulted in the increase of social capital of Busan.

Dabokdong was designed and pursued solely by the Busan Metropolitan Government. During its early planning period in 2014, the city did not receive any administrative or legal support from the central government. After its test run, however, Dabokdong began to garner nation-wide approval and won various public service awards. For instance, the Ministry of Health and Welfare recognized the potential transferability and sustainable merits of Dabokdong, and standardized on the initiative for a nationwide public service delivery system, creating “Community-based Social Services Program in Townships and Neighborhoods.” In December 2014, ‘Act on the Use and Provision of Social Security Benefits and Search for Eligible Beneficiaries’ was enacted to support Community Council on Social Security (CCSS), a crucial entity to implement Dabokdong. Moreover, ‘Ordinance on Establishment and Operation of CCSS’ was established around the same time. In August 2017, the central government announced its plan to pursue a new public policy heavily influenced by Dabokdong named “Platform Initiative to Change My Life” by which existing Dong offices would act a hub to deliver public services. To reflect the central government’s commitment, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety created “Innovation Project for Dongs” to reform a public service delivery system.

Four players that play an important role in implementing Dabokdong by mobilizing resources are as follows: Busan Metropolitan Government; Gu (municipal district) and Dong offices; social welfare centers in the private sector; and local residents. The city government supervises and coordinates administrative and other general affairs of Dabokdong, including human resources and financing. It constructed a comprehensive support system to streamline the implementation process, developed various new social service projects to ensure the efficiency of Dabokdong, allocated a municipal budget of USD 5,283,000, secured a national budget of USD 21,224,000, and obtained fund from Korea Lottery Commission amounting to USD 5,561,000. Gu establish a Gu-level plan for the initiative whereas Dong offices perform front-line tasks, sending social workers to Dabokdong beneficiaries and locating and supporting previously neglected underprivileged persons. A head of a social welfare center manages daily activities of CCSS. Private organizations mobilized material and human resources. For example, BCC provided fund of USD 292,000 and the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power made a contribution of USD 463,400. CCSS, consisting entirely of citizens, helped private social services organizations and Dong offices locate a previously neglected underprivileged person. CCSS also develops neighborhood-specific programs to tackle local welfare issues.

Yes

The government encountered an obstacle at the initial phase. The first serious obstacle arose in municipal districts. Although Gu offices recognized the necessity for and potential of Dabokdong, they hesitated to bear expenses of human resources entailed by the establishment of CSST. To ease Gu offices’ concern, the city decided to provide funds to cover operational expenses for 4 Gu offices participating in the test run. The trial period proved successful and all 205 dongs decided to participate in the third year of implementation. Moreover, the success of Dabokdong received considerable attention from the public, including the central government. For example, the Ministry of Health and Welfare selected Dabokdong as the first prize winner of ‘2016 Excellence Awards for Social Welfare Performance by Local Governments’. Additionally, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety praised Dabokdong as a best practice of an outstanding policy developed by a local government in 2017. In addition, certain international organizations paid attention to the initiative’s success. For example, Saint Petersburg, Russia, expressed its wish to benchmark Busan’s experiences of policy development in the areas of local governance and policy innovation. In November 2017, the two cities signed a memorandum of understanding for the future cooperation.

The active participation of CCSS contributed to the sustainability of Dabokdong. To make the initiative sustainable, it was conducted in a gradual manner, allowing stakeholders to learn important lessons and gather critical feedback at every step of the planning and implementation processes. The city government took sufficient time to increase the number of Dongs to undertake the initiative, and has been constantly adding supplementary features, reflecting the key findings of the initiative evaluations. Therefore, any new participating Dong benefited from the lessons learned from the past implementation and the improved initiative was transferred to other participating Dongs. By doing so, Dabokdong has become more appealing to and sustainable for both Dong offices and local residents. And with a high participation rate of residents, Dabokdong will not easily go away, proving the endurance of the initiative. Upon the implementing of Dabokdong, a Dong office acts as a social service hub where previously overlapping services were appropriately coordinated and residents enjoy the convenience of having multiple needs met in one location. Moreover, operating budgets is now executed in a more transparent way than before since many civilians participate in and monitor the implementation, including private social services providers and local residents. As a result, Dabokdong contributed to the diminished corruption in public service. In addition to great satisfaction enjoyed by residents and private social services, satisfaction and pride of civil servants also soared thanks to Dabokdong. As civil servants in charge of social services visited participating residents for a consultation session, they realized that it was very important to understand correctly the needs of the participating residents and take a proactive approach in dealing with them. As a result, the civil servants felt a strong sense of responsibility towards resident participants and truly appreciated the work they carried out.

1. Phase 1 – trial period (July 2014 – December 2015) Busan carried out a test run in four Dongs. In August, an evaluation conducted by the Busan Social Welfare Development Institute (BSWDI) showed that the number of instances of locating a previously neglected underprivileged person was reported 17 times more than before, and also found the number of social welfare cases increased tenfold. In September, the government established a master plan based on the BSWDI evaluation report and secured municipal budget of USD 1.14 million. 2. Phase 2 – implementation period (January 2016 – December 2016) From February to March, the government selected 52 Dongs, each of whom received USD 26,200 and working personnel. In March, Special Task Force for Private-public Cooperation was established. In July, Dabokdong Management Committee was launched, consisting of ten civilian experts of public health, welfare and administration. In September, the Action Plan for the Promotion of CCSS was announced, and USD 275,000 was funded through the Busan Community Chest. In October, five Japanese social welfare experts were invited to review and assess the outcomes of the initiative. 3. Phase 3 – expansion period (January 2017 – December 2017) The implementation rate reached 94 percent with 192 Dongs participating. In the first quarter, the city government launched an information sharing system, allowing it to share its data on social welfare with private organizations. In September, it announced comprehensive measures to address a lonely death issue. In November, the scope of Dabokdong was expanded to cover 36 projects under 8 themes. In December, some participating Dongs were accredited as a best practice and allowed to use Dabokdong brand. 4. Phase 4 – stabilization period (January 2018 – onwards) All 205 Dongs participated. Currently, the government is planning to launch the Dabokdong Plus project to reflect unique regional characteristics.

Yes

According to quantification index published by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Dabokdong improved efficacy in delivering social services. The ministry cited several factors as the reason for the enhanced customers’ satisfaction: first, social workers who make house calls to identify and locate the vulnerable previously excluded from benefits of a social welfare system; second, comprehensive care services tailored to the specific needs of residents; third, mobilization of resources in the private sector to overcome the limit of bureaucratic inefficiency; and lastly, active participation of local residents. The mid-term evaluation, conducted by the Busan Social Welfare Development Institute (BSWDI), showed similar results: the residents in the participating Dongs were considerably more satisfied with the social services provided in their respective Dongs than the residents in the non-participating Dongs. In November 2017, an evaluation conducted by BSWDI showed that the number of instances of locating a previously neglected underprivileged person was reported 1.9 times more than before. The evaluation report also found the number of social welfare cases increased 1.2 times and the number of house calls 2.6 times. Naturally, the satisfaction of local residents increased greatly as well.

In January 2018, the jury of Dubai International Award for Best Practices selected Dabokdong as a best practice, recognizing the successful outputs of the initiative such as increased social capital and a strengthened communication network between the private and public sectors. In December 2016, Ministry of Health and Welfare conducted an evaluation of social services delivery by local governments and selected Dabokdong as the first prize winner of ‘Excellence Awards for Social Welfare Performance by a Local Government’. Additionally, in November 2016, Ministry of the Interior and Safety praised Dabokdong as a best practice of an outstanding policy developed by a local government, citing the initiative substantially improved the quality of life. Also in December 2016, the city government gave a presentation on the achievements of Dabokdong in front of 700 attendees participating in the initiative. The attendees, including civil servants of districts and Dongs, private social services providers, and local residents, were informed of the results of a year-end evaluation, conducted by BSWDI. It also conducted a long-term evaluation from May 2016 to April 2017 based on the results of questionnaire surveys and focus group interviews, both of which were conducted thrice – before, mid-, and after the initiative’s implementation.

1. 2016 Municipal Government Year-end Presentation on Dabokdong The city government gave a presentation to inform citizens about the initiative’s accomplishments. The government used the following indices to evaluate municipal districts: whether a district provided proper support for delivery of social services and contributed to the initiative’s transfer to other districts. The government also evaluated municipal neighborhoods based on the following: whether customers’ satisfaction increased regarding the four categories (the number of house calls, the vulnerable newly identified and social service cases, and the degree of private-public cooperation); how actively CCSS was involved in designing and implementation processes; and whether a Dong pursued a program specifically developed for its residents. 2. 2017 Social Services at Your Door Evaluation by Ministry of Health and Welfare The ministry evaluated local governments’ performance in terms of the following indices: whether a local government established a public service team to deliver tailored social services; if yes, whether the team is equipped with proper financial and human resources; how well a local government is organized to deal with population change; how experienced civil servants and social workers were; how committed a local government was to training and monitoring social workers employed by the government.

One of the most noteworthy characteristics of Dabokdong is that the initiative was a collaboration effort of the private and public sectors. For example, Community Council on Social Security (CCSS), consisting entirely of local residents, takes the initiative in designing and implementing Dabokdong in close cooperation with governmental organizations and social service providers of the private sector and. In terms of financing, the government constantly works with an important civil society (Busan Community Chest) and the private sector (Busan Association of Social Welfare Centers) and created a consortium to secure project budgets for Dabokdong that would be spent on the private-public cooperative programs. The city government successfully established a meaningful connection with citizens by engaging fully with members of CCSS. For instance, high-ranking officials, including the mayor of Busan, visit participating Dongs once or twice a week to gather citizens’ feedback. The government also pursues to reinvigorate participating neighborhoods by the following: first, securing firmly the right of self-government for local residents ensured by their active participation in CCSS; second, establishing a cooperative network, among the departments of the city government, public institutions and private organizations, which would grow organically to reduce the limits of governmental resources. Moreover, the Dabokdong Plus project, newly launched in 2018 by improving some components of Dabokdong, aims to establish a support system for CCSS based on civilian expertise and to establish a metropolitan management system that reflects regional characteristics and covers extended urban areas and satellite towns of Busan. In particular, the operation of the latter system will be entrusted to a private organization after a bidding process.

.Previously, social services had been offered by the central and local governments. Consequently, privately-operated social welfare centers had to follow separate instructions from the two governments, providing citizens with inefficient and limited services. To enhance customer satisfaction, Busan consolidated dispersed social services in cooperation with the private sector which now are able to deliver comprehensive care services tailored to the specific needs of individuals and to strengthen a safety network. Moreover, the city government continues to cooperate with the private sector so all necessary resources to assist the disadvantaged can be mobilized efficiently. In this regard, the government aggressively carries out promotional activities aiming at the public and fully provides administrative support for all the relevant organizations to achieve the social and economic sustainability of Dabokdong. However, Busan should not settle for the status quo. To meet the ever-growing citizens’ need for better social services, it should do the following: take a proactive role in providing social services, utilizing the community-based care system of Dabokdong to continue to identify the underprivileged excluded from a social services system; conduct monitoring to evaluate the performance of each neighborhood; and, develop standardized and specialized training programs to ensure professional capacity of Dabokdong personnel.